Hi, this is my first post and it’s a long one – I hope you’re able to persevere because I really need some help.
I seem to fall ill every time I push myself a little in the pool. I always take alternate rest days and I build up slowly after a gap. I cool down adequately and generally feel good after the swim. But if I keep it up for two weeks or so, bam, I’m ill. This cycle started about two years ago when I was with a Masters swim group.
The symptoms are always the same – it starts with itching/irritation at the back of the throat, then a general malaise comes on, a feeling of haziness (that you get with virals) and sometimes, a very slight fever. There’s slight stuffiness and occasional sneezing. There’s often a sore throat. The symptoms are never severe, but enough to make me tired and keep me home. It takes one week before the major symptoms reduce and as much as one more week before the haziness and tiredness disappear completely. The haziness is especially annoying and persistent. Sometimes, it's like an allergy and antihistamines help (please, please don't tell me I'm allergic to swimming!)
These symptoms have been the same in three different countries – making me wonder if I have some underlying infection that has never quite left me. (Colds often have varying patterns – but this pattern is IDENTICAL each time.) I don’t know whether it’s hard exercise in general that sets it off, because I never push myself in the gym as hard as I do in the pool.
My nutrition used to be bad, but in the last five months or so, I’ve been careful (fruits, veggies, multivits) and it has helped. I get adequate and quality sleep.
But two weeks ago, since the weather got warmer, I moved from the stationary cycle back into the pool. I got back up again slowly, started doing sets with kicks and swims, started feeling good in a way that nothing in the gym can do for me, and then wham, I’m ill again.
The only thing I’ve had from doctors is: “Eat fruits and vegetables and get enough sleep.” No explanation as to why it’s identical each time and why it might be set off by swimming.
I’m not a major swimmer – during the masters course I was doing a max of 6,000m a week and after that it’s never been more than 3-4,000m a week. So while I push my personal limits a little each time, I’m hardly going crazy here. I’m not overweight on a weighing scale, but do have a bit of paunch that I’m trying to get rid of.
Thanks for reading and I do hope somebody can help.
-Thom
Former Member
Some of your symptoms match my experiences with post nasal drip. When I have long hard workouts I often get a runny nose afterwards. Sometimes I get post nasal drip, where the sinuses drain partially down the back of my throat, which irritates my throat as you describe. When I cut back on training or stay out of the pool I don't get the runny nose or the post nasal drip, and then when I pick up training again it is back. Last spring was a write-off for training, this year I haven't had the same problems. The more often I had sinus congestion the more often I had sinus infections, which led to the other symptoms you listed.
I have no solutions.
Have you been checked for asthma? My daughter was constantly getting reactions/infections, if she trained within her comfort zone she would be fine, if she cranked it up for a month or two..... back to doc. :frustrated:
Eventually after many tests they diagnosed exercise induced asthma.
:2cents:
I get nasal congestion after swimming but it usually releases itself after a cup of tea or a hot meal. I use saline sprays or the Neti pot to help flush the sinuses out and sooth any discomfort. It might be worth you looking into doing that as a post swim care routine...just like showering and moisturising etc.
the "exercise-induced" may be right, but asthma suggests something more chesty right? Mine stays in the upper respiratory area.
Her attacks are more chesty alright, but she usually feels off(??)/conjested in upper respiratory area for a day or two before her attacks.
Suggest you to push yourself hard at something other than swimming and see if you have the same reaction. – Good luck
Your nutrition may be better but you may not be getting the right mix of carbs/proteins and other minerals during and after a workout. As a result, your immune system may be depleted. Edmund Burke's book, Optimal Muscle Performance and Recovery will be helpful. For example, consuming a cup of OJ, 1/4 raisins and 2 oz. walnuts within an hour after a workout will address optimal recovery. Also, try L-Glutamine (500 mg)which strengthens the immune system. If you only experience sickness from swimming, try a homeopathic agent called Nux Vomica by Bioran Labs(sounds worse than it is!). A friend of mine uses it (2-3 pellets under the tongue) after she gets out of a pool to neutralize the chlorine. Good luck!
You can't be allergic to chroline because there is n't a protein involved. It is an irratant. You might have dry skin that is excerbated by the water or there could be something not right with the water.
Besides don't we all gwet sick while we're swimming?
Your allergies (you mentioned pollen) may cause upper respitory problems which are then irritated by the chlorine. And you may notice it because the harder you work, the more you breathe - and you are breathing in right above the water level, where there's lots of chlorine in the air.
The chlorine may irritate infected/allergy compromised tissues in your nasal passages, which will give you a sore throat AND open the tissus to secondary infections. It's sort of like your knees - if you have skinned knees and fall in mud, your knees will probably get infected; if you fall in mud without open sores, your knees will probably be fine. So you go from mild, chronic allergy symptoms to feeling bad to actual infection (fever).
The aforementioned suggestions of gargling and nose sprays sound good. But as well, think about your allergies. If you are allergic to pollens, then chances are you are sensitive to dust mites - which lurk in carpets, bedding, couches, etc. Talk to your doctor/allergist about this. What helped me out a lot was hypo-allergenic mattess cover and pillow covers (available at medical supply shops) and getting rid of the carpet in my bedroom. As well, wash your linen in hot water and put in in the dryer on "high" to kill dust mites.
Good luck!
I too have suffered. I was a Masters Swimmer and a lifeguard when I started getting severe congestion on days when I swam. The wierd aspect of this was that the symptoms wouldn't start until 4 hours or more after I had swum. It would get progressively worse thru the day, and be cleared up the next morning.
I have to agree this is not an 'allergy' for two reasons. First, an allergy gets better when you leave the allergic area. If it were an allergy I should have had my worst symptoms just after I swam, not hours later. Second, for me antihistimines just didn't seem to work. I would take them before I swam, and they did not appear to ease any of the symptoms.
I gave up my job as a lifeguard, and finally went to an ENT specialist for advice. Luckily he was also a Masters Swimmer so he know that abstinence was not a valid choice. He declared that it was not an allergy and not an irritation of some long lasting infection. He had no answer for why it would start hours after the immersion. He gave me a prescription for Flonase and I had to spray both nostrils twice a day every day. This seemed to work, but then the summer came and the symptoms went away since I was swimming outside and I stopped using it.
I am now swimming indoors again trying to get ready for a triathlon, and guess what is back. I am going to try the nose plugs. I really don't like having to take a prescription nose spray twice a day every day for the rest of my life.
Any news on how the nose plugs worked??
